The New Westminster Teachers' Union president calls it "new territory" and something he's never heard being done before outside of provincial exams, but Grant Osborne told The Record on Monday that students in the Foundations of Math 11 course received scaled marks in the first semester.
According to Osborne, parents of students taking the class received a note from senior administration that all the marks in the math class were scaled, or adjusted, by district administrators.
According to an explanation from a teacher about what form mark scaling can take, it's a process by which student grades in a class or program are compared to each other and students are assigned grades depending on where each student falls on a relative scale. For example, if in one class, the top mark earned is 60 per cent, the teacher can give the top grade to that student and then scale other marks in relationship to that number.
This news comes several weeks after local parents concerned with their children's low grades in one particular Foundations of Math 11 class went public.
The district has been looking into the issue after a Jan. 10 committee meeting where more than 15 parents raised concerns about a math class where they are claiming the teacher is failing as many as 70 per cent of the students in the class.
According to Osborne, the scaling was for all students who took the course, not just students in classes taught by the teacher parents had raised concerns about.
"I haven't heard of this being done before, at least not at this level," said Osborne. "I've heard of scaling done at the provincial exam level, but not here.
"This is new territory. I'm concerned about the precedent this sets."
Osborne added that he doesn't know which district administrators did the scaling and how it was actually done, but he did say that no members of the high school's math department participated or were asked to do the scaling.
He said he is concerned with scaling because it puts into doubt the work teachers do in developing test banks, teaching the curriculum and evaluating students.
"I've had teachers tell me that is not how marks should be given out and how assessment should be done," he said. "Right now, I'm trying to get more information on how this was done."
Superintendent John Woudzia talked to The Record on Monday afternoon and said because of privacy rules, he could not talk about what marks students received in any course.
"All I can say is district administration has been in contact with parents and is communicating with them," said Woudzia. "I'm not in a position to discuss any details of that communication."
Local parent Lisa Chao, who has a daughter in Foundations of Math 11, confirmed via email that the district has contacted her and her husband Kelvin.
The full text of her email states:
"Kelvin and I plan to meet with administration and review our daughter's exams to determine if it was a warranted or arbitrary adjustment. Her grade is meaningless if she has not learned the work.
"If the adjustment is warranted for three of this teacher's classes, what about the fourth? According to the Ministry, it is not a course issue so the Math 10 students should have the same consideration as the FOM 11 students. In fact, all of this teacher's students going back over a decade should be given the same consideration."
District administrators have been aware of parents' concerns for several weeks now.
According to a Jan. 16 letter from Bob Tamblyn, the district's director of human resources, to Lisa Chao, district administrators arranged meetings with parents for the final two weeks of January.
"Parents have asked the district to look into FOM 11 - (and) the district is examining the course and the assessment and will have the results prior to semester end (at the end of January). Once the examination of the course and the assessment is complete, the district will be in a better position to answer your specific concerns regarding the course and your child's assessment," wrote Tamblyn.
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